Angels botched obvious move after Josh Lowe demotion to minors

It was well past time to send Josh Lowe down to the minor leagues. The Los Angeles Angels' prized offseason addition was off to a poor start with his new ball club, and after hitting just .184/.226/.320 through his first 45 games, the Halos made the decision to option him to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Sending Lowe down to the minors was not the only move the Angels made, however. In addition, Los Angeles placed struggling third baseman Yoán Moncada on the injured list with right knee inflammation and selected the contracts of Wade Meckler and Donovan Walton from Triple-A. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Yusei Kikuchi was moved to the 60-day IL.

But the question on every Angels fan mind is where is Christian Moore? While Lowe's demotion certainly caught the attention of LA's fanbase, it was arguably more surprising that Walton was called up instead of Moore.

Why didn't the Angels call-up Christian Moore?

When asked about the decision to keep Moore in the minor leagues, Angels manager Kurt Suzuki rattled off a list of reasons, none of which made much sense. The excuses ranged from Walton being a left-handed hitter to Moore getting everyday reps in Triple-A.

Sorry, but those fabrications are not going to cut the mustard. Walton being a left-handed bat may be factually accurate, but so is his career .169 batting average. The journeyman infielder has received little more than two-week auditions with Major League clubs over the past two seasons and was just 4-for-30 (.133) with one extra-base hit.

Moore, on the other hand, is tearing up the opposition in Triple-A. In 30 games with the Salt Lake Bees, he's hitting .266/.441/.459 with three home runs, 19 RBI, and a 131 wRC+. Moore's been receiving plenty of reps at the hot corner this season in the minor leagues, with 14 starts at third base along with another 16 at the keystone.

Suzuki has been adamant about Oswald Peraza playing second base rather than third, which only makes the decision all the more confounding. Moore could've been called up and been the Halos' everyday third baseman. Instead, the Angels will likely platoon the duo of Walton and Vaughn Grissom.

For Angels fans, this is just the latest in a frustrating line of tone-deaf transactions that will undoubtedly lead to more tarps-off chants from the right field bleachers.

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